West Tisbury police officer faces possible drunk driving charges

EDGARTOWN - Police issued a criminal citation to West Tisbury police officer Russell Ventura on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol after he crashed a privately-owned car while off-duty Thursday evening on West Tisbury Road.

By MARY ANN BRAGG

capecodtimes.com

By MARY ANN BRAGG

Posted Jan. 18, 2014 at 1:01 PM
Updated Jan 18, 2014 at 1:15 PM

By MARY ANN BRAGG

Posted Jan. 18, 2014 at 1:01 PM
Updated Jan 18, 2014 at 1:15 PM

» Social News

EDGARTOWN - Police issued a criminal citation to West Tisbury police officer Russell Ventura on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol after he crashed a privately-owned car on West Tisbury Road while off-duty Thursday evening.

Ventura will have a magistrate hearing in Edgartown District Court once the paperwork has been processed, Edgartown Police Sgt. Craig Edwards said Saturday by phone.

Police also are charging Ventura with driving negligently and with a marked lanes violation.

In response to the incident, the West Tisbury police department placed Ventura, 39, on paid administrative leave while the Edgartown police investigate the incident and until the disposition of the case is finalized, West Tisbury Police Chief Daniel Rossi said by email Saturday.

Any internal investigation would not take place until final disposition of the case, Rossi said.

Ventura, who lives in Oak Bluffs, has been an officer on the West Tisbury force for four years, Rossi said.

Ventura was driving a brown 2006 Honda CRV owned by Elizabeth Ventura of Edgartown at the time of the incident, according to the Edgartown Police Department report.

A person who answered the phone Saturday at the home of Elizabeth Ventura said that the charges against Russell Ventura were unfounded.

At 7:41 p.m. thursday, Edgartown police received a report of a car crash at West Tisbury Road and Metcalf Drive, according to the police report by Edgartown patrol officer William Bishop.

When Bishop arrived, he found a car that appeared to be totalled, and had come to rest horizontally in the inbound lane.

A large tree showed damaged bark and there were long tire tracks in the dirt, the report stated.

Ventura was standing outside the car when the police arrived and was bleeding from areas on his head, the report stated.

In his report Bishop said he detected the odor of alcohol coming from Ventura's mouth, that the officer's speech was slurred and that his eyes appeared to be bloodshot.

The possibility of internal injuries led police to urge Ventura to go to the hospital for care, and Bishop did not conduct a field sobriety test because Ventura was taken to the hospital, the report stated.

Once the crash scene was cleared, Bishop and two state troopers visited Ventura in the emergency room of Martha's Vineyard Community Hospital.

At that time, Ventura declined to submit to a blood test that would have determined the level of alcohol in his system and asked to speak to a lawyer, the report stated.

Edgartown police issued the criminal citation at that time, the report stated.